Assumption Overflow

Up until the mid 1950's, Mary's Assumption Feast had an octave — a liturgical eight day overflow. Each day's Mass prayers hearkened back to the 15th. Indeed, there were so many octaves for different feasts they sometimes overlapped. The liturgical calendar was rather like an over decorated room. Still, now that things are so pared down, maybe we can afford to give Mary's Assumption a little extra attention. We can pretend today is Tuesday in the Octave of the Assumption.

I found this charming postcard in Paris decades ago when I was a new priest. The photograph was taken by the French photographer Albert Monier in the 1950's. Of course, it is of four nuns standing alongside the much-loved Notre Dame Cathedral which is now being restored after the devastating fire of April 15, 2019.  The construction of Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) began in 1163 and was not completed until 1345. 

Perhaps the sisters were on their way to early Mass and have stopped to listen to the Angelus bells which ring at 8 A.M. I'd also like to think that after the Mass the quartet went off to a nearby patisserie where they shared Pain au Chocolat, Tarte Framboise, Millefeiulle and café crème. 

Patty Griffin is an American singer/song-writer. Click below to hear her sing J'irai la voir un jour, a hymn to the Virgin Mary in her Assumption, written by Father Pierre Janin (born November 30, 1824). The singer remembers that her French Canadian grandmother used to sing the hymn to her as a lullaby. 

The lyrics celebrate Mary's Assumption and that we will see her again in heaven. It is a hymn of comfort, hope and love. This recording was made at a live performance after a terrorist attack in Paris. We might be mindful of the great efforts being made even today as the cathedral is being brought back to life and that terrorist attacks are now frequent in many places around the world. Here are the lyrics to the hymn's first verse: 

I will see her one day

in heaven, in my garden

Yes, I will see Mary

my joy and my love

in the sky, in the sky, in the sky

the last verse: I will go near her throne to receive my crown....

Assumption Prayer

This photograph was taken inside the Tomb of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem. An elderly priest prays up front. Perhaps he is the chapel's caretaker or his group of pilgrims has gone off for lunch and he has stayed behind for some minutes of solitude. But look, there is room on the bench for us. I expect he would be glad for our presence. Here is the prayer I would offer. You can, of course, create and offer your own.

To the Mother of God on the Feast of Her Assumption

Your Easter, O Lady,

Your mid-August rising —

Nature's last great push of

  flower and fern,

  grass and leaf.

What have you left behind for us —

  a tunic?

  a slipper?

  a veil?

  a name for the perfect white rose?

But this,

  transcendent perfume,

  a secret scent 

  from your redolent tomb.

First among us,

  we're scent-d too —

  baptism chrism,

  born of breath,

  petal and spice,

  taking us beyond the physical

  to a place without vanity,

  enjoining us to fragrance the earth

  with all that's 

  highest and

  best —

  like your own maternal kindness,

  your eyes of love compassionate,

  your patting the bench,

  drawing us close

  for a heart to heart prayer

  to heal our weary world.

For the Feast of Mary's Assumption ~ Some Audio Thoughts

We can click on Duccio's painting of The Dormition of the Virgin Mary to hear a teaching and a prayer for the feast day. 

Before or after listening—a note about biblical justice. The word justice means "to make right." This suggests things can go wrong. Justice is a relational word—righting our relationship with God, one another and the natural world. The prophet Micah says we are to "do justice." Offenses against justice would be, selfishness, entitlement, willful ignorance, greed, power abuse, exploitation. A formed (raised) conscience and an awakened heart are needed to bring about justice, whether it be that of an individual, a small community, a nation, a collection of nations. 

In The Assumption Octave ~ An Encompassing Prayer Before The Murom-Ryazan Mother of God

These are difficult days. We live in a world where danger, vulnerability and uncertainty feel close. And here, the icon of the Murom-Ryazan Mother of God appears on your screen in the midst of the disappointment.  I want to share my prayer with you, as she looks out at us in our felt need.

In Celtic-Christian spirituality, a caim is an imaginary circle which anyone in danger, distress, fear or discouragement can symbolically place around themselves. We can even carry the sense of the caim-circle with us as we walk and travel. 

The holy Lady protecting,
The vigilant Mother watching,
The awake Mary safeguarding,
    defending us, shielding us.

The bright maphorion of Mary covering,
The hands of Mary securing,
The mind of the Mother standing guard over,
    saving us, preserving us.

The blessing hand of Christ, bestowing,
The scroll-held hand of Christ, evolving,
The radiant robe of Christ, igniting,
    aiding us, looking after us.

Amen!

Feast of the Assumption ~ Dormition

Duccio di Buoninsegna ~ Dormition of the Mother of God

Here are three liturgical hymns from the Byzantine Church for the Feast of the Dormition, which the Latin Church calls, Assumption.

Irmos

The angels, witnessing the Dormition of the Most Pure Theotokos, were struck with wonder as they saw the Virgin going up from earth to heaven.

Troparion

In giving birth, O Mother of God, you preserved your virginity and in your falling asleep you did not forsake the world. Being the Mother of Life, you have passed over into life, and by your payers you deliver our souls from death.

Kontakion

Neither the grave nor death have detained the Mother of God, who continues to pray for us and who, by her intercession, remains our unfailing hope; for He, Who dwelt in her ever-virgin womb, has transferred her to life as the Mother of Life.

~ ~ ~

And, from an 8th century homily of St. John Damascene, in which the tomb of the Mother of  God speaks to the Church through the ages. We might pray for the healing of our Church.

"Now the Angels keep watch over me. Now the divine grace dwells in me. I have become a well of healing for the sick, a defense against demons, a refuge to those who fly to me. Draw near in faith, you people, and you will receive grace in streams.

Happy Feast Day to everyone!

Mary's Assumption ~ Sunflowers With A Prayer Attached

A happy memory of this Assumption Feast: In June of 1975, having completed my first year of theology up in Yonkers, New York,  I took a job cutting grass in Calvary Cemetery (section 4B under the Kosciuszko Bridge) in Greenpoint, New York. The last bit of the morning commute took me in my yellow beetle along the infamous Interboro Parkway - a winding, heavily trafficked road.

Aware that it was Mary's feast day, and that I might not be able to get to Mass, I passed a median of wild sunflowers, whipped by the air currents created by speeding rush-hour traffic. I quickly pulled over onto the barely existent shoulder and dashed across the lane of cars, filling my arms with bright yellow flowers. Then taking some extra turns and minutes to Richmond Hill and the Church of the Holy Child Jesus, which I knew from my student teaching days, I left the flowers (in a mysteriously appearing large jar of water) at the foot of Mary's lovely altar there. Kind of crazy, reckless and best of all, utterly romantic!

And here is a liturgical prayer from the Eastern liturgy for the Feast of the Assumption (Dormition).

Neither the tomb, nor death could hold the Theotokos, who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions. For being the Mother of Life she was translated to life by the One who dwelt in her Virginal Womb.

Assumption Prayer To the Mother of Life

So near your feast day,
there is killing in our country,
a bold river of flame,
the angry young white men,
the fearsome call to unite people
in violence and hate.
Like a 50's wild-west movie,
boys brandishing guns,
even the peace-calling clergy
are insulted and assaulted.
And Heather Heyer is dead.
And Jay Cullen and Berke Bates.
We're not born hating people
we have to be taught. 
On the feast of your resurrection,
in your assumption into the heavenly kingdom, 
intercede for our nation,
O Lady.

And once again CNN drags out
the retired generals who,
like priests,
helping us to meditate
but on the things of war:
the smart board maps and missiles,
the submarines and heavy bombers,
the artillery,
the firepower, 
the warfare planes and
all the talk that causes
the military industrial complex 
to high rejoicing
while the money pours in.
And the macho bluster,
the bellicose threats and
the counter threats.
We don't dare consider
how many children would die
if it all came to pass,
and the animals and plants,
the waterways and mountains,
the temples and churches.
On the feast of  your glorification,
in the fullness of your spiritual and 
bodily existence,
intercede for our nation,
O Lady.

And from your place of 
bright encounter with the face of your Son,
shout out an awakening to those who wink at violence,
whose hearts are dull,
whose minds are dim,
who turn away, 
who won't admit,
who sleep 
as on Gethsemane night.
On the feast of your translation
to the higher things,
the highest things,
intercede for our nation,
O Lady.

Assumption ~ The Joy Spills Over

THERE IS NO OFFICIAL OCTAVE for the Feast of the Assumption - but that shouldn't keep us from basking in Mary's Easter for a few days. The other day I referenced some of the titles Islam holds for the Virgin Mary, with the hope that Christianity and Islam might find a new and healed place of common joy and love. Now I feel promoted to create and share my own titles growing out of the Gospels:

She who has learned the heart of God
She whose heart is Christ's heaven
She who celebrates God's Mercy
She who considers in silence
She who embraced Jesus

She who converses with angels
She who offers hospitality
She who understands Christ's Hour
She who hears God's Word and does it
She who shares in angel song

She who welcomes the poor
She who laughs at death
She who stirs us to joy
She who trusts Gods fulfillment
She who proclaims God's wonders

Assumption~Mary of the Circle Dance

IT IS THE DAY OF MARY'S EASTER ~ her being taken up. But being taken up, not flying through space, but taken up and into the inner life of the Holy Trinity. 

We've all been part of a circle dance before, perhaps in elementary school or at a wedding, as shown here. God's inner life is not static like a triangle, but circular and with a simultaneous sharing among the persons of Father, Son and Spirit of divine energies, friendship and love. And Mary, in a fullness which even includes her body already, is taken up into that circle of energies - leading the way for us who follow. 

Great trouble is currently coming out of the Middle East and the militant elements of Islam. In the Quran, the holy book of Islam, the Virgin Mary is mentioned more often than in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The most lofty things are said of Mary in the writings of Islam. I have often thought that this veneration of Mary, shared by Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam, might be a point of shared love. Sadly that idea seems to have escaped notice. 

We might pray these marvelous titles of Mary which come to the world through Islam, asking for those with militant, hateful and death-dealing hearts to think of her, turning to the world with love.

She who is absorbed in prayer
She who confirms the truth
She who has faith
She who believes completely
She who prostrates before God in worship
She who was purified
She who was chosen
She who fasts
She who is enveloped in God's mercy

Relic of Mary's Veil at Chartres Cathedral ~ France

Mary's Assumption ~ Her Easter!

Coptic Dormition ~ Mary leaves her belt behind 

COSMOLOGY HAS TO DO WITH HOW PEOPLE SEE THE UNIVERSE. An ancient cosmology taught that Hades (the land of the dead) was below us and heaven above, with us sandwiched in between. Indeed during the Soviet years elderly women were taken up in planes to show them that heaven was not in the sky above. So these Ascension and Assumption images which have Jesus and Mary flying through space have more to tell us than, "We'll find them if we just go up high enough."

Maybe their going up though suggests that theology begin to reflect more on space itself. The Christmas Carol Unto Us a Boy is Born comes to us in Latin (Puer nobis nascitur) from the late 16th century Germany. We might be able to sing the verse here:

Unto us a Boy is born!
King of all creation
Came He to a world forlorn
the Lord of every nation.

King of all creation! We need to reflect more on the title Cosmic Christ. Remember the psalm verse - He knows the number of the stars and calls each one by name. (Psalm 147:4)

And  aren't we capable of  a new appreciative awe as we gaze at the stunning images sent back to us from the Hubble Space telescope. Hubble Ultra Deep Field. For a million seconds the telescope peered into a patch of black sky and this is what it revealed was out there!

To look at the image is to see light that originated billions of years ago!  And not only that, but when someone sent me an image similar to this there was a caption beneath that read, "These are not stars, they're galaxies."  Outside Orlando, Florida there is a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title: Queen of the Universe. Oh, to contemplate this!

But while we consider with satisfaction that there are objects in the sky that make life easier and more pleasant for us - satellites and jets that connect us - there are also new weapons of war that we're  becoming familiar with only lately because they have been kept secret for so long. 

Drones are un-manned robot controlled rocket-laden aircraft that our country is presently using in Pakistan and Yemen. The use of drones is increasingly explained and debated on websites and publications that claim to be more or less authoritative. We have homework to do. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."  Ishaan Tharoor is a staff writer for TIME Magazine. In February of this year he wrote: "The more we learn about drones the more we should know about who they kill." 

For days in this Assumption Countdown we've been looking at the most amazing images of the Holy Mother and Child. But if we're going to contemplate these images we need to see the other images of Mother and Child found throughout our weapon-burdened world. Thousands of civilians have been killed by drone attacks, among them hundreds of children.

This woman with her four year old child, killed by a drone rocket, are a holy mother and child too. That's not a political statement. It's not an anti-American statement. It's not a liberal statement. It's a human-spiritual statement. One could say that as the Catholic and Orthodox Churches so feature icons in their prayer and worship, it is incumbent upon them to pray before this icon too. 

Now some people will say, "I can't look at this," "This is too upsetting." "You ruined my Assumption Day with this picture." Of course it's upsetting. All the more why it should be placed next to the icon of the Mother of God and Her Divine Son in our homes - where the candle burns. Some think we have the luxury of not having to see these things. We don't, especially Christians who venerate the Virgin Mary and her Christ-Son.  I'd even suggest that if we don't see these things, we really can't pray rightly.

Collateral means: "We didn't mean to hit the school." "The playground wasn't the target." "It's regrettable that the family was in the way." "It was an accident." "The robo-drone was aimed at the cave, but the boy and his sheep walked too close."

Mark 9: 35-37

I can't say if Carl Bloch knew that a palm branch is the symbol of victory. This is why we hold palm branches before Easter, celebrating Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem as he began the holy work of his dying and victorious rising. In Western iconology, martyr-saints hold palm branches, the symbol of their victory as witnesses to the truth of Christ.

Here perhaps as the painter has placed a palm branch in the hand of this beautiful child whom Jesus guards, Carl Boch has in mind the martyrdom of children all around the world: children martyred in war, in domestic violence, in sex crimes, in drug deal crossfire, in their classrooms by madmen, in abortion.


Oh Lady, Queen of the Universe,
who goes up today beyond the veil
and who leaves behind your belt
as a token of love,
flower-bearing,
we sing with angels
an Easter tune
to your happy ascent.

In our littleness
our fear,
our brokenness,
loss and
despair,
we ask
all the more:
Leave behind
something of your heart,
that will take us up
even now
to the higher things:
your heaven-hearted awareness,
your compassion-ated mind,
your cosmic intent,
your insistence on life,
that we would glorify
the Creator
and know you as our Mother;
your Son as our brother.

Amen.

Assumption Countdown ~ Day Nine

Mother of God, Life-Giving Spring

THIS ICON IS TITLED: MOTHER OF GOD, LIFE-GIVING SPRING.  Mary holding her Divine Son is a curative fountain of life. There's the young mom who is taking her sick baby to the fountain. She seems so tired, she might even be leaning against the fountain's wall to rest. There is the poor fellow who has hobbled over on his crutches. Do you ever feel that you're off your feet or losing ground? Remember, metaphor doesn't mean not real - but most real. If it's your life that seems to be going under or losing ground - that's real, isn't it?

In the back of the fountain there's the woman who is washing her blind eyes. Is she an image of ourselves in our own not-seeing, our national inner darkness or humanity's blindness? There is the elderly man who is approaching the Mother of God and her Son. His illness or problem is concealed, as people often do.

It's a meditation to imagine ourselves stepping up to the Life-Giving Spring in all of our need, vulnerability, brokenness and poverty. This smiling Mother and animated Holy Child seem eager to help. We can almost hear the flowing water within the fountain. Flowing water is a symbol of internal regenerative energies. Don't we all want some of that?

Assumption Countdown ~ Day Eight

Vladimir Mother of God

This is the Vladimir Theotokos, perhaps the most well-known and highly revered icon of the Mother of God on earth. She resides in a chapel at the Tretyakov Museum in Moscow, Russia. The icon has played such an important role in Russia's long story of  being invaded. It is said that Josef Stalin even had the icon flown around the perimeter of Moscow to protect the city during the Second World War.

Maybe that's just a story, but it suggests that if we keep very close to this  image of God climbing all over us in an incarnate embrace and  kiss, we might be surprised at how things turn around for the better. The Russians mean it when they say the icon is wonder-working!

Here the Mother of God seems to express an earthly anxiety for her Son. As we turn to her in the silence of our prayer, we might be mindful of the world's children in their profound suffering. Simply hold them consciously in your heart.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the Assumption-Mystery we see the full power of Christ's Resurrection come true as Christ calls his Mother to the joy of home. Doesn't it make heart-sense that Jesus would call his Mother first to her completion? Fads come and go. Seasons come and go. Youth comes and goes. Even the words we use like rush and high, suggest fleeting realities. But the Assumption is about eternity.

Mary's Feast  is celebrated in mid-August when the summer is mature in flowers and fruit. She's a sign of the maturity we're all called to: that when our own lives are ended here, we'll be brought to our maturation, our own lives lived as fully as Christ's.

Assumption Countdown ~ Day Seven

Coptic Mary and Christ-Ruler

IT IS A WONDER THAT WE HAVE THESE ICONS from Ethiopia, as they are painted on and with very poor materials. Here is Our Lady whose maphorion-folds again reflect the ribs of a scallop shell, the fronds of a palm leaf, ripples in water. The little Christ sits on her arm as if on a throne; he is the Lord. He holds an orb in his left hand. Is it our weary, troubled world? Oh, if only we would embrace his mind of compassion, forgiveness and love.

The Holy Mother and Child have heavenly companions: St. Paul the first hermit and Saint Anthony of Egypt on the bottom with soldier-saints on horseback fighting dragons and enemies. These of course are representations of the ultimate enemies which menace us spiritually. Above on left and right are Saint John the Baptist and, hmmm, I can't figure out who that might be - perhaps a holy desert monk. Angels in an explosion of joy, put Mary's crown in place. But Mary knows where it's at - with her right hand she directs us to her Son. In humility, ask him for a refreshed heart.

Assumption Countdown ~ Day Six

THIS MARY, MOTHER OF GOD FROM KERALA, INDIA is bosomy - not pressed down, hidden and de-sexed. She's happy with Gabriel's pregnant news. Even her earrings, bracelets, sash and shawl reflect the joy. Her lovely face reminds us of the Virgin at Lourdes, who when Bernadette relayed the doubting pastor's probing questions, she only smiled.

If you trust in the Lord and do good then you will live in the land and be secure. If you find your delight in the Lord, He will grant your heart's desire, (Psalm 36: 3,4). Here the psalmist displays tender insights into God's promises which reach a fulfillment in the Resurrection of Jesus and the Assumption of Mary. Here is a new approach to  life - full of glad hope.

Then turn away from evil and do good
And you shall have a home forever;
For the Lord loves justice
And will never forsake his friends.
(Psalm 36: 27,28)

The psalmist thinks of us as God's friends. For the Lord will never forsake his friends. How twisted up religion becomes when it's defined by words like: licit and illicit, valid and invalid, observances and obediences and a kind of language that we never use in our everyday communicating. I'm not talking about the use of Latin at Mass but language that's philosophical, diplomatic, moral, defining, scholarly. This is language which simply hands on to people what they have to believe rather than inviting a deep and intimate communion of hearts. To be God's friend.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Look again at the picture. This angel has jumped over the wall to deliver the news of God come to be with us. And all of human history has built a separating wall around it. But God hurdles barriers in Christ, born of Mary. 

Most people know something of the down side of their family history: where there's the barriers of addiction, suicide, depression, mental illness, incest, infidelities and broken relationships, domestic violence, physical and mental abuse. 

Here's a meditation in response to that human tale. We might imagine our families - even going back a very long time - gathered in this room with Mary and the life-announcing angel of joy. Imagine the healing flowing over and into all  these ancestral-souls - our family lineage as far back as we know. Even if we never met the person but have only heard the stories.

The "room" of my meditation may feel toxic, infected, even possessed for awhile. But be patient and allow the flower-bearing angel, the newly pregnant Mary and the embryonic Holy Child within her to speak and en-grace.

Assumption Countdown ~ Day Five

Chinese Mary with Infant Christ

SOME CHRISTIANS SAY THEY CANNOT  pray to Mary. So then, pray with Mary. Mary prayed in the upper room with the disciples; she prays still. But what does she pray about? She undoubtedly gives thanks for God's wonders. She prays in awe before the God who brings life out of seemingly impossible places. She praises God for his surprises and reversals. She celebrates God's mercies as we make choices with sometimes disastrous consequences. And she prays for us - that we would be God-bearers too, keeping Christ at the center.

Do you notice in the image that Mary is not looking at Jesus, but away? It is as if she has noticed me on the side, and at once she turns to introduce me to her Son.

Assumption Countdown ~ Day Four

Urakami Cathedral ~ Nagasaki

THIS IS SAINT MARY'S CATHEDRAL, often called the Urakami Cathedral, which was destroyed by the atomic blast over Nagasaki, Japan this day 1945. The church, the largest in the Orient, had 14,000 parishioners. The building was destroyed past recognition, however, the haunting face of this wooden statue of the Virgin Mary survived.

This is an apt question then as we prepare for the Feast of Mary's Easter. What does Mary do in her Assumption? She lives her Son's new commandment, "Love one another," (John 15:12). And she does this as Mother - Mother of all of us. She models the new lifestyle that says we don't have to hate people. We don't have to kill people with the weapons of words and thoughts: stereotyping, obstructing, ignoring, cheating, mocking, punishing people.

All around the world people claim to see and receive messages from Mary. Often the messages are silly: Mary telling women to cover their heads in church and to stop wearing pants. But there's really only one message that Mary would want to share with us, isn't there? If you're going to follow my Son, it isn't okay to hate people. 

Assumption Countdown ~ Day Three

Mary and the Infant Jesus in Islam

LOSING THINGS IS A CONSTANT SOURCE of complaint and frustration. We lose our glasses and keys. We lose our teeth, a night's sleep, and sometimes we need to lose some weight. We can lose a friend, a spouse, muscle tone, youthful good looks, our way on a trip or our place in a line. Someone may say, I'm losing my mind! To be human is to know loss. But God is never a loser.

In her Assumption, Mary is taken up to God, even in her body. Nothing is lost to God - even in death. We're that important to God. Father Timothy Radcliffe writes: "Christ's friendship, stronger than the cross, renews the believer."

In the Assumption we see the full expression of divine love. "I believe in the Resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come," we pray in the Sunday Creed. In the image of the Persian Mary here, she is dressed in shades of gold. And gold represents the finished work. Mary's Assumption addresses each of us personally, about ourselves: Get ready for this!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

P.S. The Infant Christ sits in his Mother's arms in a burst of flame. Remembering the words of Brother Roger of Taize: "Stay close to the fire, which is Christ, and eventually even the thorns of your life will burst into flame." See the post of July 22: Even The Thorns Of Your Life.

The lush tree on the top right of the image isn't there for decoration but is a reminder perhaps of the simile found in Psalm 1 - that the one who delights in the ways of the Lord is like "a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither; and whatever it bears comes to maturity."

Finally, the Holy Mother sits on a little decorated carpet which has a heavenly feel to it. It is as if she is sitting in a miniature sanctuary. The fence behind the Mother and Child extends that sense of enclosure or sanctuary. It is very lovely, inviting a prayerful intimacy.

Assumption Countdown ~ Day Two

Ethiopian Mother of God

MARY'S FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION CELEBRATES that we are called to community - even beyond this world's relationships, to a heavenly community. This icon, with its eye-animated saints packed in and around Mary and her Boy-Child, suggests this happy, heavenly friendship. 

In her Assumption, Mary is completed as the one who consistently took up her role in creating community around the Lord. She visited Elizabeth and Zechariah at the start of their pregnancies. She made the Passover pilgrimages to Jerusalem. She was mindful of the dilemma the newlyweds faced at Cana. She struggled with her friends beneath the cross of Jesus. She prayed with the disciples in the upper room. Christians create, restore and strengthen community where they go.

When Catholic Haitians first started immigrating to the United States, they were aghast to discover that as soon as Sunday Mass was over (or even right after Communion), the church parking lot was emptied and the next crowd came in. There was no lingering, no sharing, no gathering of friendship. In Haiti, Sunday Mass overflows into hours of being with each other. 

When I would ask young Americans being interviewed before Confirmation why they don't go to Mass on Sunday, they would answer, "My family is too busy." Indeed, too busy. But the community suffers for the busy-ness. Did this begin when stores started staying open on Sundays in the 1970's, which meant that some people had to go to work, which meant that the fundamental Christian community of the family was disrupted and fractured? 

Perhaps, in anticipation of the Assumption feast we might find some small way of extending community. There's one Sunday between now and Mary's Feast Day. Might we could restore the old-fashioned idea of Sunday dinner, even to the inviting of a guest or two. Some of the younger people who are reading this post might have no idea what I'm talking about: Sunday dinner, stores closed on Sunday. Ask someone older than 50. Having each other makes all the difference in the world.

August ~ Month of the Assumption

SOME YEARS AGO A GERMAN RADIO STATION looked for a Catholic priest who would speak about the Feast of the Assumption on their program. After an exhaustive search and out of luck, they resorted to inviting a Jungian Analyst who addressed the topic eagerly. Why priests would not be happy to speak about Mary's Assumption, I don't know. Are they too busy? Or like the French clergy who told Pope John Paul II NOT to visit Ars, the parish-home of St. John Vianney, the Patron of the Parish Clergy, "He no longer reflects us" - they have grown disenchanted or even dis-believing. 

Anyway, the Feast of the Assumption, Mary's Easter, is celebrated on August 15. We might use these early August days as a time to get ready. A Greek monk told me that the West has lost its ascetical dimension. I understand. Eastern Christians anticipate Mary's feast day with a mini-Lent.  A fast precedes a feast. Maybe we can re-introduce some fasting discipline (of our own creating) so to prepare spiritually.

Though lovely, most pictures of the Assumption show Mary flying gloriously in space, often surrounded by little angels. These masterly paintings may cause us to have religious feelings, but they don't really help us to understand deeply  in mind or heart. We might say they are spiritually naive, as if all there is to Mary's Assumption is her zooming off into space, however beautifully.

So what has happened? Mary's earthly life has ended and she has entered fully into God's inner life, which is a life of family ~ a life of relationship. At Baptism, while pouring water, the priest said, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I am made for community: soaked, drenched and flooded with it. In heaven, we'll be assumed into a life of relatedness with God and the blessed ~ a community of persons we call Trinity. Our Christian message is: Never again loneliness; never again isolation!

That promise is far-reaching. Maybe in anticipation of Mary's Feast of Resurrection and entrance into the Trinitarian life we could pray each day, between now and the 15th, for our Caribbean neighbors to the south. Apart from using these island nations as our gated-community-winter-playground they often remain places of terrible poverty, troubles and sadness.

The slave ships stopped everywhere, and these little countries still bear and manifest those origins. The Caribbean is comprised of over 7000 islands: about 21-27 nations. The Bahamas is made up of 501 islands.  Puerto Rico, 142 islands. These are the names of the Caribbean islands generally considered countries:

Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Honduras
Belize
Bonaire
British Virgin Islands
Cancun
Cayman Islands
Cuba
Curacao
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Haiti
Margarita
Jamaica
Martinique
Montserrat
Netherlands Antilles
Nevis
Puerto Rico
Saint Kitts/Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
United States Virgin Islands

The Fourth Glorious Mystery ~ The Assumption

"I believe in the Resurrection of the Body and the life of the world to come," we pray in the Nicene Creed. And Mary in her Assumption is the first to enjoy this promise. In this icon the apostles have gathered to visit the tomb of the Virgin Mary, but upon their arrival they found it empty. Another tradition says it was filled with flowers. We see Thomas (poor fellow, once again confounded) who asked for a sign from heaven that indeed She, like her Son, had ascended. Mary kindly dropped her cincture or sash as "token of her affection." This icon is rather primitive - the landscape looks as if it had been done by a child. No matter ~ we are all and always her children.

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

God is no loser. Here Mary takes her place in the inner life of God ~ her place within the Holy Trinity. And there is a place for me too!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

That she stood beneath the cross of her son, Jesus, reveals that Mary had only one desire: to be united with him. And Jesus does not disappoint. I must remember this as I go through my day.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The word Assumption signifies being taken up: Mary is taken up to be with her Son. Mary is taken up to higher things: from a world of darkness to light and the enjoyment of God's own life.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Eastern Christians call this feast The Dormition of Our Lady ~ Mary's Falling Asleep. But then to wake up fully in God's presence and love. I can begin that heaven now, today, waking up to what God is doing in my life, even in this moment.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

So much talk about division, alienation, separation and loss. And here's this marvelous scene: that when Mary went to heaven, angels welcomed her with songs and conducted her to Jesus, who came to meet her!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

What will heaven be? Surely joy! I have come that you may have joy and have it fully, Jesus said. But this is joy born of relationships healed and whole. Mary and her Son. Me with Jesus! Me with Mary! Us with each other.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The Sunday Creed says, I believe in the Resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. And Mary goes first, ahead of us, where body and soul are re-united. Re-union! The healing of all divisions!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

In the Assumption, Mary wears a crown of stars. Heaven will be about light, which is knowing, understanding, seeing rightly, finding the way, being assured, having the mind of Jesus, who calls himself light.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

When we were young and little and we knew the grown-ups were going somewhere, we'd sing out, I want to go too. We dreaded the thought of being left out, left behind. Mary and Jesus have gone to heaven, even in their bodies! I want to go too!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Mary's story ends with flowers and stars, angel song and seeing Jesus. Her tomb was empty when the apostles gathered. The story doesn't end in decay. Let's be encouraged and gladdened.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...



Foxglove ~ Our Lady's Glove